NEW YORK — Cam Newton and Auburn blew by Boise State into first place in the BCS standings.
The unbeaten Tigers (8-0) vaulted from fourth to the top spot Sunday, putting the Southeastern Conference in line for a fifth consecutive appearance in the national title game.
Oregon (7-0) remained second, which works just fine for the Ducks because if they win out, they’ll likely play in the BCS title game in Glendale, Ariz., in January.
Boise State (6-0) was still stuck in third place. The Broncos were off last week while Auburn beat LSU 24-17 and Oregon pounded Pac-10 rival UCLA 60-13.
TCU (8-0) was fourth, Michigan State (8-0) fifth and Missouri (7-0) sixth.
Auburn was tops in the computer rankings and third in each of the USA Today coaches and Harris polls. The polls count for two- thirds of a BCS average. A compilation of six computer ratings accounts for the rest.
“I can only control how we proceed in this building,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said before the standings were released. “We just had a team meeting, and we talked about being very grounded and understanding that every week is another new week and another opportunity.”
An SEC team has won the last four national championships, with Florida taking two and Alabama and LSU winning one each.
Oregon’s computer rating was still lagging behind most of the top teams at eighth, but the Ducks were a solid No. 1 in each of the polls.
Footnotes.
Oregon, which moved to No. 1 for the first time last week and followed up with its easy victory against UCLA on Thursday night, received 44 first-place votes to remain atop The Associated Press poll.
Boise State was second and Auburn third.
• Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin ran for two touchdowns apiece, and quarterback Matt Scott (18-of-22 for 233 yards) had no trouble replacing injured Nick Foles as Arizona beat Washington 44-14 late Saturday night.
The Associated Press
